In This Issue: Is Your Company Prepared in the event of an accident? Register for the 2017 Idealease/NPTC Safety Seminars! Photographs as Evidence Do you have a career path for your employees? Redesign FMCSA website assists new motor carriers Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. February 10, 2017 Brought to you by Idealsafe 847-304-3190 www.idealease.com Is your Company Prepared in the event of an accident? Today more than ever companies that operate commercial motor vehicles need to prepare in advance for an accident that one of your vehicle may have. Depending on the severity of the accident, just the involvement is enough to throw the thought process of most drivers and supervisors into array. Companies need to have a clear and direct plan in place that will be implemented when an accident occurs. This plan needs to be flexible and can be activated no matter what time of the day or night. When an accident occurs the company has a number of immediate items that need to be addressed. 1. The safety and protection of the driver and public. 2. Protecting the company s liability and physical damage exposure. 3. Provide information to Law Enforcement officials. 4. Control of progressive damage that may occur from the accident, including Hazardous material spills, cargo and the vehicles. 5. Compliance with State and Federal Regulations (such as drug and alcohol testing if required). 6. Documenting and protecting the physical evidence at the scene (Spoliation of Idealease and the National Private Truck Council NPTC will again be hosting safety seminars in 2017. The one day seminar this year will focus on the new Electronic Logging Device (ELD) regulation, basic safety and compliance, regulation changes and CSA. The seminars and will be provided to all Idealease customers, potential customers and NPTC members at no charge. The seminar provides important information applicable for both the novice and experienced transportation professionals. To register for an upcoming seminar in 2017 click on the following link:
evidence). 7. Securing witnesses to the accident. 8. Addressing the News Media and Social Media. 9. Having your vehicle towed to a safe and secure site. Recommendations for a company to prepare for an accident: 1. Put together an accident response team. Ideally this team would consist of the safety director, the driver involved, insurance accident investigator, company s attorney and if needed an accident reconstruction expert. 2. Have an accident action plan in place that outlines the direction and responsibilities of the response team. 3. Develop written policy for drivers to follow when involved in an accident regardless of severity. This would include reporting, conduct at the scene, responsibilities, drug and alcohol testing, etc. 4. Include accident scene training as part of your new driver orientation program. Drivers should know exactly what to do and what NOT to do in the event of an accident. 5. Place Accident Kits in the units. This kit should include a camera, accident report, pencil, and instructions. Place and expiration date on the outside of the kit that coincides with the expiration date of the camera. It is recommended that these kits be sealed or secured so the materials Drivers need to be trained on how to use the camera and which pictures should be taken and which pictures NOT to take. Photographing an Accident Scene The old saying a picture is worth a thousand words is especially true when talking about taking photos at an accident scene. Over the past years, carriers have been placing disposable film cameras in their trucks to have drivers document evidence from an accident scene. Today, with the evolution of digital cameras it is difficult to even find a place to develop film. Regardless, if a driver has a film or digital camera have you provided training to your drivers on how to use the cameras? If not, you run the risk that the driver will not have taken photos needed to document evidence or worse yet, that the photos the driver has taken can be used against you in a court of law. Use the following tips to train your drivers: 1. Show the driver how to properly operate the camera (if camera is provided) or make sure they have a digital camera with them. Have photos as samples to show them how close or far to take the photos. 2. Shoot all available pictures on the roll at an accident scene (if film) or make sure they know to shoot plenty of pictures. That one extra picture may hold key evidence to protect your company. 3. Photograph all damaged areas and undamaged areas of all vehicles. Do not forget to photograph the license plate of all vehicles involved in the accident. This photo should be close enough to read the plate and also identify which vehicle it was on, try to include unit number in the picture. 4. Photograph the interior of the vehicles including the dash area and driving compartment. Include in the photo all safety equipment such as seat belts, steering wheel, pedals, and air bags. http://www2.idealease.com/e/36492/safetyseminar-registration/58ss78/554447563 Idealease 2017 Safety Seminar Schedule Date March 2 March 22 March 28 March 29 March 29 April 4 April 5 April 6 April 12 April 12 April 13 April 18 April 19 April 20 April 25 April 26 May 3 May 4 May 4 May 9 May 10 May 17 May 18 September 12 October 3 October 4 Location San Martin, CA Dallas, TX Harrisburg, PA Mobile, AL Baltimore,MD Milwaukee, WI Lexington, KY Altoona, IA Memphis, TN Lodi, CA Birmingham, AL Chattanooga, TN Atlanta, GA Tampa, FL Youngstown, OH Weirton, WV Grand Rapids, MI Fort Wayne, IN Aurora, CO Ontario, Canada Greensboro, NC San Leandro, CA Los Angeles, CA Santa Rosa, CA Charlottesville, VA Erie, PA
5. Photograph the accident scene from all angles. When photographing a vehicle or entire scene, draw an imaginary box around the vehicle or scene. Then photograph from each corner of the box. 6. Take pictures of the roadway leading up to the accident scene. Any skid marks should be photographed in various angles. Include in the photographs stationary objects, telephone poles, road signs, buildings, etc. 7. DO NOT take photos of anyone who has been injured or is deceased due to the accident. However, take photos of occupants in the other vehicles to document who was involved in the accident. For example, if the driver of the other vehicle is out changing a tire, photograph this action to show the physical condition of the other driver immediately following the accident. Photographs as Evidence The principal requirements to admit a photograph (digital or film-based) into evidence are relevance and authentication. Unless the photograph is admitted by the stipulation of both parties, the party attempting to admit the photograph into evidence must be prepared to offer testimony that the photograph is an accurate representation of the scene. This usually means someone must testify that the photograph accurately portrays the scene as viewed by that witness. Guidelines for Ensuring Your Digital Photographs Are Admissible Develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Department Policy, or General Order on the use of digital imaging. The SOP should include when digital imaging is used, chain of custody, image security, image enhancement, and release and availability of digital images. The SOP should not apply just to digital, but should also include film-based and video applications as well. Most importantly, preserve the original digital image. This can be done a variety of ways including saving the image file to a hard drive or recording the image file to a CD. Some agencies elect to use image security software. Digital images should be preserved in their original file formats. The saving of a file in some file formats subject the image to lossy compression. If lossy compression is used critical image information may be lost and artifacts introduced as a result of the compression process. If images are stored on a computer workstation or server, and several individuals would have access to the image files, make the files read-only for
all but your evidence or photo lab staff. As an example, detectives could view any image files but they would not have rights to delete or overwrite those files. If an image is to be analyzed or enhanced the new image files created should be saved as new file names. The original file must not be replaced (overwritten) with a new file. Photographs as Evidence is an article written by Steven Staggs a Forensic Photography Instructor; He is the author of the book Crime Scene and Evidence Photographer s Guide. Do you have a career path for your employees? Our industry continues to struggle with finding enough drivers and technicians to service and drive trucks. When is the last time you heard a young boy or girl say when I grow up, I want to be a truck driver or truck technician?" There is not a week that goes by that someone is asking me what they can do to recruit new drivers and technicians. My first response to that question is what are you doing to keep the good drivers and technicians that you currently have? In today s employment environment if you are not actively working to retain your employees someone else is actively recruiting them from you! There is no one clear answer to driver and technician retention but there are a number of proven methods that you can implement to reduce turnover. One is to develop a career path for all of your employees to follow. Another common term used for career path is driver or technician elevation program. If an employee does not have a clear vision of what they can achieve with your company, they are likely to become dormant and will eventually leave the company. Both drivers and technicians will leave a company for a pay rate that is slightly higher than what they are currently receiving. I would recommend that you tie training and pay increases together. We have implemented a career path program in our Atlanta facility and have tied pay increases to the amount of training that a technician has completed. The technician has the opportunity to increase their pay by completing training and passing examinations. This has proven to be a benefit to us the employer and the employee. We benefit by having technicians who are higher skilled and educated to repair and service our units and technician turnover has been reduced. The technicians are able to repair and service the units more efficiently with a lower occurrence of comeback repairs. Technicians are able to increase their pay and enhance their careers with education. Imagine the savings you could have with all employees at the highest level of education and pay!!!
Redesigned FMCSA website assists new motor carriers A redesigned New Entrant Program Website will aid motor carriers in understanding their responsibilities as they work through the first 18 months of operation, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The revamped website has been enhanced to walk carriers through the new entrant process. Specifically, it: Introduces companies to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs); and Explains the Safety Audit which is performed by FMCSA and state partners as a means of monitoring safety compliance. Through the outreach materials, FMCSA hopes new entrants will gain a better understanding of what is expected of them during this audit. After a company successfully completes the New Entrant Program, the carrier will be monitored alongside other existing carriers through roadside inspections and state crash reports under FMCSA s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program. To learn more, visit the New Entrant Program Website. The Idealease Safety Bulletin is provided for Idealease affiliates and their customers and is not to be construed as a complete or exhaustive source of compliance or safety information. The Idealease Safety Bulletin is advisory in nature and does not warrant, guarantee, or otherwise certify compliance with laws, regulations, requirements, or guidelines of any local, state, or Federal agency and/or governing body, or industry standards. Copyright 2017, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 430 North Rand Road North Barrington, IL 60010